✓ | escaped [ ➀ ]

[ chapter two ]

"Hate to break it to you, kid, but that's kind of becoming old news." 

Andi stared at Tony, who seemed unshaken by the idea that someone -- in this case, two someones -- were out to get him. She suspected it was probably something that happened often in his line of work as an Avenger. 

Despite knowing everything the Maximoff's had told her, Andi did not feel compelled to try and get in this man's way. Maybe because he too was making no attempt to try and subdue her despite where she was. Despite knowing that she had abilities. 

Or maybe because she was more curious, than anything else, about what this guy and the Avengers really stood for, because Andi knew that if it was the other way around, and Hydra had found her, she would have been in chains in seconds. Either that, or dead already. 

"How old are you?" Tony broke the silence after a few moments. 

"Fourteen." 

Tony muttered something under his breath that Andi assumed was a curse, and ran a hand through his hair. "And how long have you been here?" 

Andi bit down on her lower lip. "A long time," she answered, not going into the specifics. "And I'm pretty sure there are more like me around the world. Hydra... they're never truly defeated." Even if the Avengers managed to shut down this base, she didn't doubt that there were more, working on experiments like the one she had been subject to. 

"And you... you're not like the other two out there?" Tony asked, arching an eyebrow. Andi understood that he was referring to the twins. For a moment, she wasn't sure how to answer. 

"That depends," Andi said finally. "I'm like them because I'm enhanced too. But I don't think we share the same agenda." 

"And what would your agenda be?" 

Andi barely gave her answer a moment's thought. "Freedom from these labs." 

Tony's expression shifted from curiosity to... something that Andi wasn't quite familiar with. Was it concern? Worry? Disappointment? It was hard to tell. These were not emotions that Andi encountered on a day to day basis. The only concern she ever got was from the twins. 

Before Tony could say anything else, Andi continued. "I want to see Hydra fall. I don't want them to keep doing to other kids what I've had to go through my entire life," she said softly, maintaining eye contact with Tony. 

"With this information," Tony nodded to the computers. "We can put a stop to it. That's what we do. That's why we're here." 

Andi nodded. She knew that. But she needed to see that for herself before she could make any decisions. Now she was more or less choosing a side. Not between the Avengers and Hydra, but between the twins, who were the only friends she had, and the man they wanted to kill. 

And she had made her decision. 

"I know where the scepter is," Andi said finally, gesturing for her to follow as she led him to the back of the room. She didn't turn to see if he was, in fact, following. She pushed on a wall, and it opened up, revealing a secret passageway. Andi had been down there plenty of times, considering a lot of her experiments were carried out there. 

Almost as soon as they reached the bottom, the scepter was on display for them to see and Andi glanced back to see Tony looking around in confusion and curiosity. She also sensed some recognition, but she said nothing till his eyes landed on the prize. 

Tony stuck his hand out, confusing Andi for a moment, before she saw a flash of red and part of his suit attached itself to his hand. Before he could reach out and take it though, something changed. Tony froze, and Andi looked at him for a moment, preparing to ask him what was wrong, but her question was soon answered. 

Andi saw more red, but this was not a flash of Tony Stark's suit coming toward him. No, this came from Wanda Maximoff. She had used her power on Tony, rendering him lost to an illusion for the time being, and she now looked at Andi questioningly. 

"You know what this man did," Wanda said, her expression soft now that she was looking down at Andi. "He killed our parents." 

"His weapons did," Andi replied. "And that isn't right either but he's not our enemy here, Wanda. We don't have the power to stop Hydra, but they just might." And that was more important than revenge. 

But not according to the Maximoffs. 

"Hydra is already finished," Pietro announced, suddenly appearing at his sister's side. He too, looked down at Andi with a soft gaze. "Tony Stark and his gang of misfits have caused more damage." 

Andi shook her head. "You... you're both having your mind clouded by revenge. That's not going to get you anywhere." 

"Andi," Wanda took a step toward her. "If you want to leave that's fine. We won't stop you. We... We've only wanted what was best for you. But we can't let him get away when we're this close." 

And glanced toward Tony, still in a daze, and then back at Wanda and Pietro. She wanted so badly to just leave and start fresh. Live a life where nobody from her past would find her. But things were never that easy. And she could never live in good conscious, thinking about all the things she could have done to prevent disaster. 

"And I can't let you do this," Andi replied finally, letting out a small sigh. Almost as soon as she said the words, she jerked her hand to the right, and a metal robot -- one that was still in the process of being completed on a nearby table -- flew toward the twins, catching them off guard and sending them both back a bit. 

Andi wasted no time in getting more to try and get them to back away, while Tony resurfaced from his hallucination in time to see what was going on. 

"I can hold them off," Andi told him, lifting a hand and causing the ground to tremble a little. She didn't want to hurt the twins, but she would do as much as she could to keep them at bay till Tony could leave. 

He took one look at her, before grabbing the scepter. As soon as he did, the rest of his suit followed him, encompassing his body till an armoured suit made of iron stood beside her, instead of the dark haired man that had been there moments ago. 

"Go," Andi urged, intending to open up a fissure in the ground. She'd get more reinforcements from there in the form of vines and roots. 

Tony stayed still for a few more seconds, as if he was debating with himself over what to do. And then, without a word, he scooped up Andi's small frame, surprising her, before shooting upward and out of the facility. Before she knew it, they were surrounded by daylight again, and Andi tried to remember the last time she had been exposed to so much fresh air. 

Tony kept flying, and Andi didn't look to see where he was taking her. Instead, she looked down, at the facility that was now near ruins, and she thought over the choice she made, the one that forced her to leave her friends behind, while telling herself in her head that this was the right decision.